Building a bridge to the future : strategic issues and considerations for a global authority control framework

Some of the strategic issues involved in creating a shared authority control environment will be presented and discussed as libraries and librarians in every part of the world move toward closer and greater collaboration. Instead of addressing the need for authority control as a tool for quality assurance and enhanced information services, the speaker will focus on these strategic issues of shared authority control databases in the larger context of a rapidly changing technological environment. These strategic considerations have significant implications for the future directions and the long-term sustainability of various databases currently being maintained or experimented. Using these strategic considerations, the technical designs and conceptual models of one or two specific name authority control databases currently in use will be briefly reviewed and discussed.